Hostile Attribution Bias

Hostile attribution bias is the tendency to interpret the ambiguous or unclear behavior of others as intentionally hostile or aggressive, rather than as accidental, neutral or well-intentioned. The concept grew out of research by the psychologist Kenneth Dodge and colleagues beginning in the early 1980s on aggressive children, who were found to be more likely than their peers to attribute hostile intent to an ambiguous provocation, such as being bumped by another child under unclear circumstances, and to respond aggressively as a result. The bias is studied extensively in developmental and clinical psychology as both a marker and a possible contributing cause of aggressive behavior, and interventions aimed at reducing hostile attribution bias in ambiguous social situations have been developed as part of broader social skills and anger management programs.